Meanings
- not comparableHaving no job despite being able and willing to work.
The number of unemployed keeps rising steadily.
2 more examples
The government announced a new initiative to help the unemployed.
Several special types of unemployed workers are described. These include nonmodal workers, threshold workers, "the unemployables", and the physically handicapped.
1934, United States. Bureau of Employment Security, Employment Security Review, volumes 2-5, page 15 - not comparableHaving no use, not doing work
England's attacking impetus was limited to one shot from Lampard that was comfortably collected by keeper Iker Casillas, but for all Spain's domination of the ball his England counterpart Joe Hart was unemployed.
2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC SportSynonyms: disused, idle, abeyant, at rest, cessant, dormant, dull, fallow · Antonyms: employed, in use
- pluralplural onlyThe unemployed people of a society or the world, taken collectively.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving no job despite being able and willing to work.
adjectiveHaving no use, not doing work
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot engaged in a gainful occupation
nounpeople who are involuntarily out of work (considered as a group)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Germanic*un-
- Proto-West Germanic*un-
- Old Englishun-
- Middle Englishun-
- Englishun-
- Englishemployed
- Englishunemployed
Translations
Arabic مُتَبَطِّل, مُتَبَطِّلَة
- مُتَبَطِّل (mutabaṭṭil)having no job
- مُتَبَطِّلَة (mutabaṭṭila)having no job
Bulgarian безработен, безработните
- безработен (bezraboten)having no job
- безработните (bezrabotnite)the unemployed as a group
Catalan desocupat, aturat
- desocupathaving no job
- aturathaving no job
Chinese Mandarin 失業的 /失业的, 失業者 /失业者
- 失業的 /失业的 (shīyè de)having no job
- 失業者 /失业者 (shīyèzhě)the unemployed as a group
Czech nezaměstnaný
- nezaměstnanýhaving no job
Danish arbejdsløs, arbejdsløs
- arbejdsløshaving no job
- arbejdsløsthe unemployed as a group
Dutch werkloos, arbeidsloos
- werklooshaving no job
- arbeidslooshaving no job
- werklozenthe unemployed as a group
Estonian töötu
- töötuhaving no job
Finnish työtön, työttömät
- työtönhaving no job
- työttömätthe unemployed as a group
French au chômage, inoccupé
- au chômagehaving no job
- inoccupéhaving no job
- chômeurhaving no job
- les chômeursthe unemployed as a group
German arbeitslos, die Arbeitslosen
- arbeitsloshaving no job
- die Arbeitslosenthe unemployed as a group
Greek άνεργος, άνεργοι
- άνεργος (ánergos)having no job
- άνεργοι (ánergoi)the unemployed as a group
Hebrew מובטל
- מובטל (muvtál)having no job
Hindi बेकार, बेरोज़गार
- बेकार (bekār)having no job
- बेरोज़गार (berozgār)having no job
- निकम्मा (nikammā)having no job
Hungarian munkanélküli, állástalan
- munkanélkülihaving no job
- állástalanhaving no job
Icelandic atvinnulaus
- atvinnulaushaving no job
Irish dífhostaithe, neamhfhostaithe
- dífhostaithehaving no job
- neamhfhostaithehaving no job
Italian disoccupato, i disoccupati
- disoccupatohaving no job
- i disoccupatithe unemployed as a group
Japanese 失業者, 失業者
- 失業者 (shitsugyōsha)having no job
- 失業者 (shitsugyōsha)the unemployed as a group
Korean 실업의, 실직한
- 실업의 (sireobui)having no job
- 실직한 (siljikhan)having no job
- 실업자 (sireopja)having no job
- 실업자 (sireopja)the unemployed as a group
Latvian bezdarbnieks
- bezdarbniekshaving no job
Lithuanian bedarbis
- bedarbishaving no job
Māori kore mahi, hunga kore mahi
- kore mahihaving no job
- hunga kore mahithe unemployed as a group
Norwegian Bokmål arbeidsledig, arbeidsløs
- arbeidsledighaving no job
- arbeidsløshaving no job
Persian بیکار
- بیکار (bi-kâr)having no job
Polish bezrobotny, niezatrudniony
- bezrobotnyhaving no job
- niezatrudnionyhaving no job
- bezrobotnithe unemployed as a group
Portuguese desempregado, os desempregados
- desempregadohaving no job
- os desempregadosthe unemployed as a group
Romanian șomer
- șomerhaving no job
Russian безрабо́тный, неза́нятый
- безрабо́тный (bezrabótnyj)having no job
- неза́нятый (nezánjatyj)having no job
- нерабо́тающий (nerabótajuščij)having no job
- нетрудоустро́енный (netrudoustrójennyj)having no job
- безрабо́тные (bezrabótnyje)the unemployed as a group
Scottish Gaelic dìomhain
- dìomhainhaving no job
Slovak nezamestnaný
- nezamestnanýhaving no job
Spanish desempleado, cesante
- desempleadohaving no job
- cesantehaving no job
- paradohaving no job
Swedish arbetslös, arbetslös
- arbetslöshaving no job
- arbetslösthe unemployed as a group
Thai ว่างงาน
- ว่างงาน (wâang-ngaan)having no job
Turkish işsiz, işsizler
- işsizhaving no job
- işsizlerthe unemployed as a group
Ukrainian безробі́тний
- безробі́тний (bezrobítnyj)having no job
Urdu بے روز گار
- بے روز گار (be roz gār)having no job
Vietnamese thất nghiệp
- thất nghiệphaving no job
Welsh di-waith
- di-waithhaving no job
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with unemployed
Cite this entry
unemployed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unemployed
“unemployed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unemployed. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unemployed,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unemployed.
Source: unemployed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.